The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Dianthus plant, botanically of hybrid origin and known as Dianthus ‘Hope’ and will be referred to hereinafter by its cultivar name, ‘Hope’. The new cultivar represents a new cultivar of cheddar pinks, an herbaceous perennial grown for landscape use.
‘Hope’ was discovered by the Inventors in a container in a nursery in Lewisburg, Tenn. in April of 2007. The new cultivar arose as a chance seedling in a quart container amongst a block of containers of ‘Firewitch’ (not patented) and ‘Frosty Fire’. Although the parentage is unknown, ‘Firewitch’ and ‘Frosty Fire’ are likely parents due to the characteristics of the new cultivar and their proximity.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar was first accomplished by one of the Inventors using stem cuttings in June of 2007 in Paw Paw, Mich. Using stem cutting and in vitro propagation, the characteristics of this cultivar have been determined to be stable and are reproduced true to type in successive generations.